CANONSBURG, Pa.—Until there are gate receipts to look at, nobody will know for sure how much damage the NHL did to itself with a third lockout in 18 years. If the league does suffer financially, though, it will be because fans don't want to give them money, not because labor strife diminished their passion for the game.

As the Stanley Cup favorite Pittsburgh Penguins opened training camp at their suburban practice rink, fans were granted free admission, filling the bleachers and then some. Behind the back row, the standing-room crowd was three deep in spots, with children on parents' shoulders and a few smart folks using step-ladders to get a glimpse of their heroes.

"I'm very excited, very, very excited," John Lawson said from the nosebleed section of a rink that holds just over a thousand people. "It's a little hard to see, but we're here, ready for hockey season to get started. We've got it this year. (James) Neal snipin', we're good. (Sidney Crosby), we're just glad to have him back. Lots of time for him to be 100 percent."

While Pittsburgh is a city that bleeds black and gold for its uniformly uniformed teams, enthusiasm for the return of NHL hockey was palpable around North America on Sunday, with fans turning out in droves to watch practices. The St. Louis Blues said 5,500 people came to their first day of camp, as did the Tampa Bay Lightning. In Columbus, where the Blue Jackets finished the 2011-12 season dead last in the NHL then traded captain Rick Nash, there was another standing-room crowd.

"I'd say all is forgiven, but I think owners and players have to make up the lost time to the fans," said Brian Kadlecik, who watched the Penguins with his 3-year-old grandson. "The biggest problem for hockey winds up being fair-weather fans and lost fans."

Those are not the fans who would spend a Sunday watching practice, of course, but it still was an encouraging sign for the NHL that its best customers do not appear to be abandoning the league. At the end of the Penguins' first official day back on the job, they raised their sticks to the crowd, which responded with a resounding "Let's go Pens!" chant.

"We all appreciate it," said Crosby, the captain of the Penguins and face of the NHL. "We know it was a frustrating process for everyone, and we appreciate it. I don't think anybody takes for granted how good we have it here in the sport we have. I don't think there's anything but appreciation for that. Winning always helps. You want to reward your fans at home, and play well in front of them, and represent them well. Hopefully they know that we take pride in that, and the best way we can represent them is with the way we play."

Said Neal: "It's pretty impressive. Us, as players, we love it. The fan support has been unbelievable. It's been a tough four months for us, and obviously for them, too. To see them out here, at the practice rink for the first day of camp, that's awesome."

It was even better for the kids who had ice time before the Penguins, the Southpointe Rink Rats and North Pittsburgh Wildcats. As fans showed up early to get good seats for NHL practice, they also got to watch a game, and the teams on the ice got a great experience.

"That was really cool," Grant Rhoads, the Rink Rats' 14-year-old center, said after his team's 4-2 victory. "We've had crowds a little like that in high school, but not like that. They were all clapping whenever there was a play."

They barely stopped afterward. They had four months of cheering stored up.

"Some owners and players are greedy, but the Pens weren't part of that greed," said Carey DeRosa, who finagled a front-row spot with her daughter Dacia. "They're not about money. It's not the Pens' fault this happened. They were part of solving the problem. I'm not upset. I wish they could've come back sooner."

Sporting News' Jesse Spector, after a fall and winter of attending little more than labor negotiations, is hitting the road and visiting five training camps in five days. On Monday, he'll be in Buffalo.